Foods to Avoid if You Have Congestive Heart Failure

When you have heart failure, one major thing you must do is align your diet to foods that will not harm you.

Knowing that the heart is an important organ in the body your physician might tell you a lot of things that you need to adjust for you to enjoy life much longer with your loved ones.

WebMD also describes the condition where the heart continues to pump blood and oxygen throughout the body, but its performance is not in tip-top shape.

In an interview with WebMD, a registered dietitian in Toronto, Leslie Beck shares that when an individual has heart failure (sometimes called congestive heart failure), the organs do not get the proper nourishment and oxygen they need.

Health Grades mentions that reducing or cutting off some foods may improve the quality of life of the patients.

With a vast variety of foods in the market, it is very tricky to pick what to eat especially if you have congestive heart failure. That is why here are some of the foods that people with this condition should avoid.

Sodium

Kaiser Permanente reports that sodium inside the body acts as a sponge because it holds extra water, which makes it harder for the heart.

A cardiologist from Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Sitaramesh Emani, MD, shares with WebMD that when an excess amount of sodium is consumed from a diet, the body wants to hold on to more fluid to go along with it.

Health Grade adds reminds people with this condition to check the labels as sodium can go into foods which makes them less obvious.

Alcohol

Barry Greenberg, MD, from the University of California San Diego Health, notes in an interview with WebMD that if the heart failure is controlled with medication and the patient is not retaining any fluids, then one drink per day is okay.

However, in certain cases, Health Grades adds that alcohol can worsen the condition of the heart wherein it does not pump very well, that is why cutting it is a must.

Water

Although water is encouraged for most people, patients with congestive heart failure have to measure their liquid intake daily, according to WebMD. Medline Plus also points out that excess water may cause swelling, shortness of breath, and weight gain, that is why daily intake of fluids should be monitored.

Caffeine

If you are recently diagnosed with congestive heart failure, then you might want to give up coffee, chocolate, and soda, just like what Emani notes with WebMD. He adds that excess caffeine can worsen heart failure and drive the heart rate and increase the risk of irregular heart rhythms.

White Bread

Health Grades adds this staple food on the table to be dangerous for patients with heart failure. They point out that processed grains like white bread do nothing on the body because it has no healthful fiber.

Avoiding these foods may help the heart with congenital heart failure be at ease. Cutting these foods will benefit them and make them enjoy life even longer.